A sister-sister relationship is a special one for many reasons. Few people will understand you and your childhood better than a sibling – especially a sister – which is great! However, sisters also know how to get under each other’s skin. So… Why spend two weeks on a volunteer program to travel with your sister? Louise and Elly are sisters who recently served in India, and they have a great explanation for why they decided to serve abroad together…

Why Should You Volunteer and Travel with Your Sister?

Since our earliest years we sisters have taken the life journey together both figuratively and literally. As children we went on many family vacations with our parents traveling up and down the east coast of our native country. After college we hitchhiked through Europe together.

Time passed and our lives moved in different directions. Careers, marriage and children put miles between us, still we cherished the times we managed to celebrate together.

Elly telling stories to children in India.

After our children were grown we renewed our passion for traveling together. We took road trips through the U.S. and Canada and cruised Alaska and the Caribbean. Then we ventured out to South America and Africa. But something was missing. A pull from something within led us to Global Volunteers, and our wander lust was transformed forever. While it is true that our personalities are very different, we share common core values, values that compel us to share heart to heart with others.

Our first Global Volunteer trip was to Cuba where the seeds were sown for more to come. Our relationship with each other deepened. And we have added so many more members to our family: Stephen and Sheeba (Team Leaders) and their family; the staff at the guest house – Barnabus and Rani, the staff at our host sites – the teachers, the cook, the young women who assist them and Sister Rose; our fellow volunteers; and, of course, the children, oh, the children!

It is almost impossible to find words that could begin to capture the magnitude of our experiences in India.

Because we each have a sister who was willing to take the risk to travel across the globe with the other, we have received so much more than we could ever possibly give. There will certainly be more to come!